redefining the art of conversation

hi guys, happy sunday! i’m kicking back finally going through stacks of mags and mail and happy to find my article on the salon hostesses of paris in romantic homes’ april issue.

it’s a subject that just fascinates me. the idea that people would gather with no intention other than to converse. not that talking is so odd of course, but that in an era so abundant (the age of enlightenement)! with beauty, science and fine arts, society would place conversation above it all, regarding the spoken word as the highest art form, even though there was nothing recorded, in fact nothing retained at all except memories of those witness to it.

guess i wish i could have been there. i always visit the salon hostesses’ homes in paris. i never get tired of them and there seems to be another to discover around each corner.

these are some of the random shots taken in my travels. it’s incredible passing through the rooms, imagining the guests, their clothes, their wit and brilliance. wishing those walls could talk! maybe someday archaeology will include recording sound waves from walls. but i digress!

seems like we only gather face to face now if it’s for a reason. but we do have salons if we consider blogging an offshoot. and twitter is an ongoing conversation too. maybe it makes us be more thoughtful about what we say when it’s just a one liner or a bi weekly post. anyway, i’m glad we have our little corners of the world with each other. your comments are wonderful conversation, hopefully recorded for a good long time. but it’s just ether so guess that’s fleeting too! oh well lets enjoy it while we have it!

by the by romantic homes has a new forum set up to become more interactive with their readers:

www.romantichomes.com/forums

also, if you want to submit an article or your creative work, the editors are dolls! here’s the contact info:

Jickie Torres

Senior Editor

Romantic Homes

265 S. Anita Dr. Suite 120

Orange, CA 92868

and if you’re fascinated by the salons too, these were some of my resources:

http://www.oup.com/us/brochure/0195104307/salons.pdf

http://www.bdavetian.com/salonhistory.html

florine stettheimer painting

endicott-studio.com/rdrm/formsmr.html

and some of my old posts about salons and writing this article. i can’t believe it took a year of working on this before it actually happened! anyway enjoy your night and hope your weekend was wonderful!